I Promise
by ACSkyefan88
Summary: Post 2x14. Coulson comes by Skye's safehouse and cooks her dinner. (Just some father-daughter bonding fluff and a little bit of angst.)


_**This is a post 2x14 one-shot. Just a little fluff that has been playing in my head after that awesome with all the great Skye-Coulson bonding moments. Hope you enjoy reading it!**_

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Skye had been at the cabin for almost a week now. She hadn't known what to do with herself the first two days. Though, when it set in that she was going to be there for a while, she decided there was no use in being miserable for that extended time and started to get cozy. Since the place hadn't been visited since Captain America had been there (which was about three years) it had gotten pretty dusty in there. She managed to find a cloth in some cabinet and for the next 4 hours, painstakingly cleaned every surface in that cabin. Being exhausted from cleaning afterwards, she sagged down onto the couch to relax for a bit. However, as soon as the cleaning left her mind, the fearful thoughts about her uncertain future returned. She was too tired to use May's control-technique, so she decided to just block them out by focusing on something else. The next couple of hours were spent rearranging all the furniture to her liking.

On the sixth day, it was Coulson's turn to visit. He had told her he would come back in a couple of days when he left, but she had already suspected then that something would come up and he would have to stay at the base. She had hoped somewhere deep down in her heart, where others couldn't see, that he would have come by after three days or so, but at the same time her brain was telling her heart that such hope was foolishness. It had been May that had come in his place two days ago. It had been nice to see her as well, even though she had felt that May wasn't completely herself. She seemed to be keeping her distance, emotionally. She seemed to feel guilty even. Though Skye didn't hold any feelings of blame towards May, her distance angered her. She was just so done with people keeping distance. Couldn't they see that she just wanted to connect with someone? Connect with something real again?

She had been reading a book when she heard the engines of the quinjet. Her heart started beating about 30 bpm's faster, but she kept staring at her book (even though the words on the page no longer reached her consciousness) to play it cool and not launch herself at him to wrap her arms around his neck and never let go, like she feared she would otherwise. She heard footsteps on the deck and then the key turning in the lock. When he opened the door and stepped inside, she 'casually' looked up from her book and said;

"Hey, you're a bit later than I expected."

He wiped his shoes on the doormat and set down two brown shopping bags on the counter.

"I'm sorry, Skye. I really am. A last minute thing came up and I also still had to send someone out to get groceries. I hope you like spaghetti bolognese?"

She closed her book and turned sideways on the couch to face him.

"You know I do. I've only begged to eat spaghetti for dinner about 20 times at the base."

He took of his suit jacked and hung it on the coat hanger.

"Well, consider your prayers heard." He smiled at her and started taking the groceries out of the bag.

"Though it is going to be more of a 'spaghetti-Bolognese-avec-a-little-more-vegetables', because vitamins are important too."

She walked up to him and leaned against the counter.

"You want me to help you with that?" She asked.

"It's fine, Skye, thank you. But the least I can do is cook for you."

"Okay."

She hoisted herself up to sit on the counter.

"Probably best, too. According to the nuns at the orphanage, I was a terrible cook. All the kids had to cook one day a week, but apparently I was so terrible that they banned me from the kitchen. And when I lived in my van, I survived solely on take-out."

He laughed.

"My mom had banned me from the kitchen too, when I was a kid. I had nearly set the house on fire once and I was a loose cannon when working with knives."

Skye watched him skillfully starting to chop the onions.

"You seem like you got some skills anyway." She said.

"Well, working undercover with May kinda makes you have to learn out of necessity. She is… I can't even put in to words how terrible her cooking is. But that's okay, because she can pretty much hit me out of the park with every single other skill in life."

She watched him in silence for a while as he started on the ground beef and just enjoyed his company. This is exactly what she imagined it would be like- to have a family; to have a father. She could easily pretend that this was the house they lived in together and that he had just come home from work and started cooking. She imagined that it was his day to cook, because she had cooked yesterday and they always alternated. She simply felt warm and save as she sat there on the counter while he was engrossed in preparing the meal with a white towel over his shoulder, looking like a proper father would.

"So, mister Awesome Cook. You do this more often? Cooking for people I mean." She asked him.

"Well," he said while mixing the beef and vegetables in the sauce once more. "I used to cook for Audrey, before I died. And I cooked for Simmons once when she was undercover, but lately not so much."

She simply nodded and looked down at her feet, which she had started swinging back and forth.

"Well, I have to say, it smells great." She said.

"That's good, because it's almost done. You mind getting some plates and setting the tables."

"Yes, Sir." She replied and jumped off the counter to get the plates.

While she set the table, he finished up the spaghetti and served one plate for Skye and one for himself. He then poured them some 7UP, because he knew that was her all time favorite. Also, the lack of inhibition from alcohol probably wasn't the best idea for her right now.

"Here you go." He said as he set down her plate and drink in front of her.

"Thanks, A.C."

He sat down next to her, perpendicular from where she sat.

"Wow, I haven't heard that nickname in quite a while."

"Well, you know, even though 'director' is pretty cool too, A.C. is still cooler."

He smiled.

"Also, I just don't want to be formal right now. Hell, I'm not even an agent on active duty right now."

"I wouldn't want you to be formal, Skye. Though, active or not, you're still an agent. As long as you want to, you will never stop being an agent."

She sighed and nodded.

"Let's eat." He gestured towards the food.

She picked up her fork and started eating. When the taste hit her, she was immediately sold. She had never tasted such good spaghetti in her life.

"O my God." She said. "This is amazing!"

He had the widest smile on his face as he watched her eat.

"Thank you, but if you don't slow down I'm afraid I will be performing the Heimlich on you in a few minutes. I think it's better we avoid that scenario."

"Yeah, fine." She said as she slowed down. "This is just _really_ good."

"I'm glad you like it." He smiled.

They ate in silence for a minute.

"So, how are you holding up here?" He asked after a while.

She looked up.

"I'm fine. I'm feeling like some middle aged person in a midlife crisis, who has selfishly left their family for months to look for spiritual awakening. But otherwise I'm okay."

Humor. He knew for a fact that being here was anything but relaxing for her, so her light-hearted answer troubled him.

"Are you sure? You weren't so keen on being here when I left last time."

"Well, I got turned around. Here Simmons isn't constantly asking to do more tests and May isn't dragging me out of bed for Tai Chi at 5am." She shrugged.

He wasn't buying her act.

"Skye."

She looked up from her food.

"Tell me what's _really_ going on."

"There is nothing going on. I told you, I'm doing fine."

"Skye, you always tell me to say what's going on. That only works as a two way street. Please, Skye- just be honest with me. How are you doing?"

Skye laid down her fork and sat back.

"I just- I don't want you to think that I'm weak…"

He laid down his fork as well and moved a bit towards her to gently grab her wrist.

"Skye, I have never believed that you are weak. And struggling or being scared isn't the same as being weak."

She paused a while and then looked at him.

"I'm terrified. The gloves Simmons made help, but I am still nowhere near controlling this. What if I can never return home to the team? What am I supposed to do? I don't- I don't want lose everything… I don't want to lose being a part of the team. I don't- want to lose you…"

He squeezed her wrist a little tighter.

"Skye, I promise you: you won't lose any of that. I know that we are going to find an answer for your powers. Simmons and Fitz are working day and night trying to find ways to help you. They will not stop until they do. And if they can't find the answer, I promise I will scour the world to find something or someone to help you. I still have plenty of hope that we will find the answer."

She looked down and nodded.

"And I promise, that you will never ever lose me. No matter what happens. I will always be there for you."

She looked up at him and he saw that tears were threatening to fall. He stood up from his chair and without ever breaking the contact tugged on her wrist to stand up as well.

"Come here." He said.

She stood up and he wrapped his arms around her protectively. Being so tired of controlling herself, she didn't hold back and clutched onto him like a lifeline as a few tears rolled down her cheeks. He too held her a little tighter than he dared to do in the past. He soothingly stroked the back of her head as he whispered calming words of hope.

"My dad just said that no one would understand- that you'd all be afraid. And look where I am! I'm hidden away in some remote cabin so I wouldn't hurt anyone."

"This is temporary, Skye." He said, never stopping stroking her head. "I don't want you here either. I'd so much rather take you out of here and bring you back home with me right now. I haven't stopped thinking about that since the second I stepped in the quinjet to go back home last time. I was actually planning to take you back today, against dr. Garner's advice. But I just found out that Mac is keeping a secret and if that secret turns out to be big, I don't want you anywhere near the base."

Skye sniffled and pulled back. Coulson reluctantly let her go.

"Mac has a secret? Why? I don't understand."

"I don't understand either." Coulson said shaking his head. "All I know is he and Hunter disappeared. Now Mac has turned up after days and Hunter is still nowhere to be found, and I don't believe that Hunter ran because I offered him a permanent position."

"Me either. I heard about his commitment issues in the past, but he told me that he wouldn't exactly mind staying on the team a bit longer. Which, for Hunter, means that he would like to be a permanent part of the team." She said and sniffled again. He pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket and offered it to her.

Coulson sighed. He grabbed his chair and moved it closer to hers and they sat back down.

"That's what I thought too. I think Mac is gathering intel for someone. I just need to know for whom. I that person turns out to be Hydra, you cannot be at the base. They will come for you, so that means it's better you stay here."

Skye shook her head.

"But what about you? They will come for you too, and then I can't help fight them off!"

"Hey, we don't even know for sure if that's what we're dealing with here. I'm just taking the necessary precautions."

"But then let me take precautions too and let me be there with you!"

Coulson smiled and shook his head.

"You are much more important, Skye."

"Uhm, last time I checked _you_ were the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I'm just some girl who got picked up from the streets, was trained into an okay agent and then transformed into some freak. So weighing 'freak' against 'director', I'm pretty sure that's not entirely true."

"But you are more important to _me_." He stated firmly. "I'd rather have _you_ safe than me."

She didn't know how to even answer that. She was simply taken aback by his words.

"And what your father said is a lie. I could never be afraid of you. I know the heart that beats inside." He said pointing towards the left side of her chest.

He emphasized his words by laying a hand on her cheek and stroking it with his thumb.

"I promise."

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_**Hope you enjoyed the one-shot! Please leave a review and tell me what you think! They are so very much appreciated!**_


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